cowens677 1 Posted December 14, 2013 Report Share Posted December 14, 2013 I bought my first Saiga 7.62x39 and just finished converting it. I installed my bullet guide and was about to mod the mag catch but when I went to try the circle 10 mag I have it fit perfect. Is this normal that the magazine catch does not need to be fitted for ak47 mags or did I just luck out? Anyways can't wait to run this at my local uspsa match! I should be getting my handguards this week and will install with the saiga-ak handguard retainer that I bought. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sim_Player 1,939 Posted December 14, 2013 Report Share Posted December 14, 2013 I had to file the crap out of mine. Make sure you check it against a variety of different manufacturers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cvasqu03 21 Posted December 14, 2013 Report Share Posted December 14, 2013 I bought one of the original European American Armory Saigas with a 20" barrel back in the 90's and I never had to file down the mag catch. Regular AK mags would always fit, they just wouldn't feed without the bullet guide. In fact, I remember seeing a bunch of Saigas at a gun show back then and trying this out (with the vendor's permission of course) and the AK mags fit. I think it's later tha they started making them slightly longer so the regular AK mags would no longer fit. Maybe you just got lucky though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cowens677 1 Posted December 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2013 I'm going to buy some Russian steel mags to make sure but the Bulgie fits like a glove. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mancat 2,368 Posted December 15, 2013 Report Share Posted December 15, 2013 Not totally the same, but my Saiga .223 would snap in any 7.62x39 mag right out of the box. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cowens677 1 Posted December 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2013 Maybe the new Saigas coming through RWC do not require mag catch modification? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
riggs1117 0 Posted December 16, 2013 Report Share Posted December 16, 2013 My IZ132 from RWC required me to cut down the mag catch with a dremel for standard mags to fit Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cowens677 1 Posted December 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2013 Well there goes that theory, I guess I lucked out then. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mikebaker1129 19 Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 Yes you are lucky ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sim_Player 1,939 Posted December 17, 2013 Report Share Posted December 17, 2013 I found "shaping" the mag catch a little stressful, on my 7.62x39 Saiga. My Dremel cutting wheel worked best but, the other side of the wheel was extremely close to the receiver bottom, at times. It could have got ugly but, I wasn't in a hurry. (Warning! Anyone not comfortable with hand-tools should not work on guns.) Not having to mess with it saved you at least an hour. I checked the fit against 6 irregular Chinese mags that I happened to have. I don't remember having to do anything to my 5.45 Saiga mag catch. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cowens677 1 Posted December 30, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2013 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sim_Player 1,939 Posted December 30, 2013 Report Share Posted December 30, 2013 (edited) Good luck and have fun. What state do you live in? Edited December 30, 2013 by Sim_Player Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Big John! 2,062 Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 Completed my conversion and got a second waffle mag to confirm if my mag catch good to go. I lucked out and now it is time to put several thousand rounds through this saiga ak47! Somebody put a chastity belt on your pistol grip... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cowens677 1 Posted January 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2014 Ya unfortunately I live in California so I had to put that damn fish fin on my pistol grip or else I need to get a bullet button. I hate bullet buttons! I have one on my Ar and I can not stand not being able to do quick magazine changes. So I will probably being going featureless on that rifle also. The nice thing is I can take off the kydex wrap a lot easier than the lame ass bullet button. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fishbed77 3 Posted January 11, 2014 Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 My 2012 IZ-132 needed quite a bit of filing to fit standard AK steel mags. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.